


Dark Paradise

by ChisanaHizashi



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Delirium, Hallucinations, Insanity, Multi, Post Ending, Revolution, Sasuke is a God, Sasuke won, Uprising
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2018-11-30 20:14:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11470866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChisanaHizashi/pseuds/ChisanaHizashi
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto has disapeared. The Shinobi World do not longer exist. Sasuke won the final battle at the Valley of the End.Thus he became the new god of a new world rid of shinobis. He travels alone through this new world and prevents new conflicts from bursting in the blood. But his lonliness and the loss of his brother drives him gradually towards insanity...In the Shadows, an Uprising is coming...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> Here is a new fic. I asked what would have happened if Sasuke had beaten Naruto and accomplished his revolution. For me, he would have become an all-powerful god who would repress attempts at conflict in the blood, attracting the hatred of all. He would travel alone around the world, unattached, to make sure the world is at peace as his brother wished. But being alone during all these years and losing his beloved brother will lead him little by little, towards madness, where he will have hallucinations of his brother, so much so that at a moment he will no longer even make the difference between reality and imagination.  
> I say in my fic that Sasuke disappears at the same time as Naruto. In fact, for me, Sasuke chose to abandon his identity and personality to become the incarnation of an omniscient and omnipotent god, a sort of universal representation of the evil toward which all the hatred of the world will be directed. It is as if Sasuke would die at the same time as Naruto and reborn as this god. That is why I turn to him as Sasuke during the passage of the fight with Naruto and as God afterwards.  
> I did not want to spend too much time between the end of the war and the period when my fic is going because I wanted to take some of the characters from the manga. I really did not like the end of the Naruto manga and I particularly hate the Sasuke-Sakura pairing, so there will be none of that in this story. On the other hand, this one will be particularly dark and will not necessarily end happy, you are warned!  
> Finally the new world I have imagined is my own vision of the Sasuke revolution, but some may not agree. Feel free to comment, share views and ask questions if you wish.
> 
> Good reading to all of you!!!!

_Once upon a time..._

 

 

 

 

_A world made of different clans of proud and dreadful warriors who never ceased to fight one another during violent wars. Many of these warriors died in bloody battles or treacherous ambushes. Tired of losing their loved ones, two warriors belonging to opposing clans, enemies by duty, but brothers bound not by blood but by affection, chose to stop fighting and to work for peace. Together they founded a village in the heart of their country, where order and harmony between the different warlike clans was to reign._

 

_They were soon imitated by all the clans of other countries. The world was then divided into five powerful nations placed under the authority of a warrior more powerful and wiser than the others. Their mission was to protect the population and preserve peace and harmony, in order to prevent the advent of a new era of darkness. But they failed in their duty._

 

_Driven by their thirst for power, the Five Nations began to confront each other. The policy of the warlike villages became hardened, and the least objection to the missions entrusted to them was insubordination. The slightest protest against the authority embodied by the village resembled treason. One day one of the most powerful clans tried to rebel. The village ordered the best warrior of this clan to annihilate them all._

 

_In exchange for the life of his brother, this warrior accomplished his duty and kill all his family, including his own parents. He thus protected his village from the civil war and preserved the semblance of peace that the world then knew. But instead of being seen as a hero, this warrior was banished from his own village, far from the brother he had spared and cherished more than anything else in the world._

 

_But human nature is greedy and insatiable. The war resumed again. As if heaven had wanted to punish humans for their sins, a destructive God descended from heaven and plunged the people into an endless sleep. A mighty warrior tried to arrest the God, but he perished by his hands._

 

_The God then massacred the five warriors representing authority in the Five Nations. Then he took the people out of their sleep, and declared that He was their new master henceforth, and that all who refused to submit to Him would be slaughtered without pity. Many of the warriors tried to oppose the God and fiercely confronted him, but they eventually fell one by one._

 

_The God finally withdrew. But his evil shadow still hung over the world._

 

_No one sees him, but his presence is everywhere._

 

_No one hears him, but his voice still resonates everywhere._

 

_No one knows who he is, but his name is on every mouth. ___

__  
_~_  
 

__  
_The young man with dark blue hair sighed. He had already heard this nursery rhyme hundreds of times. He drank the rest of his tea in one go, got up and left the inn where he had stopped after leaving a few pieces on the table._  
 

__  
_When he left the inn, the young man inhaled and then expired deeply, sniffing the air with the slightly flowery notes of this spring morning. This day was truly magnificent. A bright sun darted its luminous rays over the whole valley. The sky was spreading its large coat of azurean blue on the prairie covered with Blue Eyes in bloom. The young man fixed this peaceful landscape for a brief moment. In the distance he could hear the joyful cries of children playing, the guggles and horselaughs in the tavern he had just left. Everything was so quiet._  
 

__  
_What trace remained of the war now? A war in which the world had confronted a God- no two -and had almost been trapped in a sad and gloomy illusion in which reality, acts, and feelings no longer existed, or reduced to venerating a pretentious goddess from the stars..._  
 

__  
_But this dark past was now over. The world was at peace. The children were playing, the people were laughing heartily ... A thin smile narrowed the lips of the young man with dark blue hair. He turned his heels and slowly resumed his way. After all, he was not in a hurry._  
 

__  
_He had eternity before him._  
 

__  
_~_  
 

__  
_In a way, all wanted peace._  
 

__  
_No, they all wanted to impose their peace._  
 

__  
_In his time, Uchiha Izuna thought that peace was to impose the will and dominance of his clan on all the others, for only a clan sufficiently powerful and united was able to hold in respect all the other shinobi clans._  
 

__  
_For the head of the opposing clan, Senju Hashirama, it was to break down the walls between rival clans and create a place where all could live together in harmony, a dream come true and which bore the name of Konoha. Izuna's elder brother, Madara, had for a time shared the utopian vision of his rival and friend. Other villages imitating the one created by Senjus and Uchihas were born. The world seemed to have finally emerged from this perpetual cycle of wars. But over time, the system of Hashirama had revealed its faults and imperfections. The villages that were supposed to work for peace and stability began to wage war between them. During this dark period, a secret organization took root within Konoha itself, an organization aiming at preserving the security of the village by all possible means. This became more and more important until it became part of the government acting in the shadows... leading to the genocide of the Uchiha clan, the same one who had been one of the founders of the village._  
 

__  
_Madara had understood that human nature was too vile and corrupt, desiring peace but incapable of making it a reality. Just because peace did not exist. It was just an illusion. Therefore, the only way to bring peace was to impose it on all by force, becoming an all-powerful God and controlling anyone on earth through an eternal genjutsu, the Mugen Tsukuyomi. An illusion. A plan that could have worked._  
 

__  
_Men themselves are different, as are their desires, expectations and hopes. Peace could not exist because it was different for everyone. How to bring a universal peace if this was not the same for all? Madara's plan made it possible to bring the one that everyone wanted for themselves. A different peace for a different heart._  
 

__  
_But an illusion remains an illusion. Living an artificial peace is nonetheless irreal. Peace then becomes an illusion of peace._  
 

__  
_A false peace._  
 

__  
_A peace having no value and no meaning. Only one true peace existed._  
 

__  
_Revolution._  
 

__  
_~_  
 

__  
_Forty years had passed since the end of the Fourth Great War Shinobi._  
 

__  
_The ancient world was now nothing but a distant memory. The Shinobi alliance had failed. The world, caught in the trap of the eternal illusion of the Uchiha Madara's Mugen Tsukuyomi, by a cruel irony was only salvaged by Otsutsuki Kakuya, the first holder of the chakra, the mother of all shinobis and self-proclaimed goddess of the Earth, who took possession of the body of Madara with the help of her creation Zetsu. She was in turn defeated and sealed within a new moon specially created for her, only thanks to the intervention of a handful of shinobis survivors protected by the Suzanoo of Uchiha Sasuke._  
 

__  
_This confirmed what Sasuke had always thought. Forging a lasting peace based on people's understanding and willingness to ally was only an illusion, a puerile dream that only children and the weak-minded can cling to._  
 

__  
_Madara was mistaken. It is not men who are naturally vile and corrupt, but the society they create and they try at the cost of all sacrifices to protect who corrupts them._  
 

__  
_Hashirama was mistaken. The ideal that animated him had turned against him and the village he had built and which was to be a place of peace and harmony between peoples had ended by exterminating one of the clans that had been the one of the founders of the same village. It had sacrificed the life of one of the shinobis most faithful to the founding ideals of this village who had used him as a pawn and thrown him away like garbage. A system where to obtain peace one has to follow the orders without question. An oppressive system that had ended by stifling freedom of action and speech._  
 

__  
_To bring true peace, it was not the hearts of men that had to be changed or controlled, but the system that corrupted them that had to be eradicated. A society set up by shinobis. In order to clean up society, it was necessary to rid it of what was rotting it. Get rid of shinobis._  
 

__  
_Naruto had tried to interfere. He had sought to persuade Sasuke of the madness and ineptitude of his enterprise, had tried to convince him to return with him to Konoha, where his friends were, and he, his brother of heart, who had never renounced his return. Lost and confused, Sasuke had a brief moment been tempted to accept his offer and follow him. Perhaps then, with his friend, he could have silenced even for a second, that terrible pain that had gripped his chest since the disappearance of his beloved brother._  
 

__  
_No, Sasuke was not to yield. He had to honor his brother's wish, and Itachi wanted peace more than anything. Even more than his little brother ... After all, had he not left him alone and abandoned in this dark cavern while he saw with ineffable sadness in his eyes, his brother disintegrate after the cancellation of the " Edo Tensei? To preserve peace and put an end to this war, Itachi had sacrificed his life a second time. Sasuke had to honor his choice and make sure that his dearest desire was respected. So maybe he can still feel his brother with him …_  
 

__  
_The young man was angry at this moment of weakness in which he had almost yielded, but this only strengthened his determination to defeat his adversary and start his project. He could not wait any longer but had to stay focused on the fight._  
 

__  
_He was not to lose._  
 

__  
_~_  
 

__  
_The fight was titanic. Everyone threw all his strength and remaining forces into the battle. Sasuke threw his perfect Susanoo on the cloak of the demon of Naruto. Explosions and trembling caused a large part of the valley to fall. The attacks ensued one after the other, each determined to stop the other, by all possible means. Naruto especially seemed the most fierce. His speech and attitude were very different from those of the previous battles. In their first fight in the Valley of the End, and even their meeting after the death of Danzô, Naruto had always held his blows, favoring dialogue above all, trying to talk some sense into the one he considered his brother, desperate to bring him back to Konoha and not kill him._  
 

__  
_This time was different. Naruto had not even bothered to give any valid arguments to counter Sasuke, merely repeating the same nonsenses again and again ... He did not try to hold back his blows, and used all the devastating power of the chakra of the demon-fox ... He seemed exhausted, angry and lost all desire to fight for Sasuke._  
 

__  
_'So much the better', thought Sasuke. Fatigue darkened his judgment, and he began to be overwhelmed by his negative emotions. He would soon lose control of his demon, and would leave Sasuke the perfect opportunity to strike._  
 

__  
_The fight was coming to its end. Both were exhausted and practically running out of chakra. There was scarcely enough left for them to launch a final attack. Sasuke and Naruto stood up painfully and leapt against each other. Sasuke could then see the energy of all their Konoha comrades surround and protect Naruto by his blinding light, while he remained desperately alone in the darkness._  
 

__  
_Suddenly, Sasuke felt it. A warm, sweet presence enveloped him and rocked him like a child. The young man smiled. He was no longer lost alone in the dark. His brother was by his side, glued to him and lent him his strength to defeat his opponent. Itachi's thin white hand took his little brother's hand in his and helped Sasuke form his Jutsu and together, with intertwined fingers, carried the final attack. Chidori and Rasengan crashed into each other, causing a formidable explosion that ravaged what was left of the Valley of the End …_  
 

__  
_~_  
 

__  
_Sasuke just like Naruto disappeared without a trace that day. From the Valley of the End there remained only a huge crater similar to that created by the ultimate explosion of Deidara during his confrontation against Sasuke. No vegetation had ever been sprouting at that place. The statues of Madara and Hashirama were nothing more than a heap of rock and gravas, a lost memory of a past that is now forgotten._  
 

__  
_After the death of Madara and the sealing of Kaguya, a new God made his appearance, who without mercy and cold unlimited cruelty slaughtered the five Kages and a large part of the Shinobi army and locked up for eternity the eight Bijus remaining in the Gedo Mazo. Only then did he put an end to the Mûgen Tsukuyomi, and announced to the rest of the world that he was now master of it, and that all dissent would be severly repressed in blood. Then the God disappeared._  
 

__  
  
 

__  
_Dumbfounded, it took a long time to the world to get out of the torpor in which it was. What had happened? What had happened to the Shinobi army? Who could be this new god? A few surviving shinobis awoke amidst the thousands of corpses of their massacred comrades. Some could not endure such a vision and immediately killed themselves in order to rejoin their unfortunate companions in death. Others chose to withdraw from the world in order to continue living in the memories of a bygone past, forgotten by all. For what was left of this Shinobi world wanted by their ancestors today?_  
 

__  
_Dead and dust._  
 

__  
_~_  
 

__  
_The world as all had known it was gone. The death of the five Kages as well as the Damyos and the dismantling of the Shinobi alliance caused the fall of the five Shinobi Nations and the collapse of the borders. With the death of a large part of the shinobis, the hidden villages had lost their raison d'être. They were thus abandoned by their inhabitants and little by little fell into oblivion. The village of Konoha was gradually invaded by the vegetation, the buildings began to cover themselves with moss and the ground was nothing more than a carpet of dead leaves. It took only twenty years for Suna to be half covered by the sands. That of Kiri was swallowed up under the waves. The village of Iwa was nothing but dust and rubble, and that of Kumo disappeared purely and simply. As if each of these villages had returned to their natural elements._  
 

__  
_It's as if the world has made a leap in the past. The unified world Hashirama had hoped had given way to a crump of small independent provinces, bringing together farmers and merchant villages, each gathered around a main village governing the province that was attached to it. But unlike the provinces of yesteryear, hostile to each other and in constant conflict, these ones, mainly by commercial exchanges and mutual aid agreements were all connected to one another. As if the quarrels and the time of the wars were but a distant memory._  
 

__  
_However this peace was long and difficult to acquire. In spite of the desires of change, certain traditions endure, and the old grudges are not so easily effaced. Also in the early years, the provinces again experienced conflicts and showdowns. But when a clash broke out, suddenly the red-eyed God appeared, and without even trying to know the origin of the confrontation, pitilessly massacred the two parties, until terrified, the locals implored the God to spare their lives and swore to their ancestors that no disputes or strifes would disturb the peace of their villages anymore. Without a word, the God just nodded and retreating in a fraction of a second, leaving behind a crowd prostrate and trembling with stupor._  
 

__  
_If, after a certain time, these massacres ironically brought peace to all the provinces, they also inoculated the inhabitants with an indescribable terror. Thus they lived every day in constant fear of seeing the God with terrifying red eyes appear suddenly. In order not to incur his wrath, the provinces avoided at all costs the slightest confrontation, and if by chance any argument broke out, the inhabitants at once sought to find common ground and to carry offerings to the temple devoted to the God in order to appease his anger._  
 

__  
_With time the terror of the inhabitants had turned into a fierce but discreet hatred. It should not be that God hears them and come to punish them for their blasphemy and their lack of piety. Some murmurs, however, a silent concertation between village testified their anger and this growing hatred. They were nevertheless too frightened to try anything against him. They contented themselves with cursing him in their thoughts while reciting their prayers every day on his altar._  
 

__  
  
 

__  
_The God was satisfied. The whole world could hate him, it did not matter. It was in terror and hatred that the inhabitants get closer to each other, and helped each other instead of confronting each other. It was in terror and hatred that the villages and their inhabitants had leagued together against him and not against one another. This hatred that he inspired them had them without they know it forever linked, and had enabled him to accomplish in the shade what no other had succeeded till this day._  
The peace.  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> Oh my god, I have not posted a new chapter on this fic since July 2017 ?!  
> I am so sorry for those who waited for the next chapter, I will try not to take so much time next time to post. This end of the year was quite difficult, I had no taste for anything and no inspiration to write or work. Hope this new year is better than the previous one.  
> This chapter is very introspective, I focused on the thoughts of Sasuke during these forty years of wandering, first of all his brother of course, but also his questions about loneliness, friendship and his past with the team Taka that I will make appear in this fic. So there will be no real action in this chapter but it should change in the next chapter, which should be very interesting and I can not wait to write ...  
> I wish you all a happy new year 2018! :))))  
> I hope you will like this chapter.  
> Happy reading to all.

Sasuke jolted awake gasping. He sat down on his futon and immediately put his hand on his chest. His heart was pounding and big drops of sweat beading on his forehead. Trying to control the tremors that shook his body soaked in sweat, the young man got up painfully and walked with a unsteady pace towards the window of his room. He tried to soothe his jerky breathing by inhaling big breaths of fresh air.

He had that dream again. A shiver ran through the young man's spine just thinking about it. A nightmare where the young man found himself sucked into a black hole, surrounded by darkness, and where he called in vain the name of his brother with the echo of his own voice for any answer. A dream that was only the representation of his daily reality. For almost forty years now, a frightful, unbearable loneliness had accompanied him. It had been forty years since the young man traveled the world to ensure that all conflicts had indeed been eradicated, repressing in blood the few altercations he encountered on his way. The population had to understand that there was no place in this world for wars and other massacres. Their hatred was to be directed against him and him alone.

Like Itachi. Rethinking his beloved brother always caused an unbearable pain in Sasuke's chest. And Sasuke always thought of Itachi. He still saw his tall stature, his slender waist, his almond eyes, his wide lashes, and his long black silk hair. The beautiful smile that his brother had sent him into the cave before he disappeared. Sasuke could still feel the warmth of his brother's body as their foreheads touched so delicately. The young Uchiha would then have given everything to convince Itachi to stay with him, no matter if he is an Edô Tensei, he was above all his big brother. The bright star around which his world was spinning. Perfection.

In times like this, Sasuke was angry at feeling so weak. Itachi had made his decision, and his little brother had to respect it. He had to do everything to make his brother's last wish come true.  
The peace.

Concepts as abstract as war or peace had never existed for the child Uchiha Sasuke had been. His world was limited to making his father proud of him and one day to work alongside his older brother. Nothing else mattered. Nothing was more important. Sasuke's dream was to be able to stay with his beloved brother forever. And today, only counted Itachi's dream of peace. The only bond that still united him to his brother. So Sasuke must not fail. He must not be overwhelmed by doubt or sadness. He had to stay strong.

He was now a god and a god knows no weakness.

~

Sasuke jolted awake. In the distance, the thunder broke out. The lightning streaks the sky, illuminating momentarily the cave where Sasuke was sleeping. Another nightmare. They were more and more frequent these last weeks. Always the same. Sasuke was falling into a black hole and there was nobody to catch him. He was alone, desperately alone.

Loneliness was an old friend. Sasuke had always known it since that fateful night when Itachi, forced in to doing it by Konoha, had slaughtered his family to save the life of his little brother. Since Sasuke had lived alone, in a small apartment given by the same village that had taken all that he had away from him. The boy had always hated this apartment. Every evening he would return home, to what was now the old Uchiha desert district, where only the ghosts of the members of his slain clan lived, in the house he shared with his family, haunted by the memories of a happy childhood now gone. Haunted by the memories of his big brother whom he had always adored and admired, and who had left him alone with the thought of the day he could finally avenge his family by killing their murderer, his own brother. Itachi had always occupied the thoughts of his little brother. Whether it was to hate him or to avenge him, only Itachi counted for Sasuke. The young man had never thought of surviving their fight, he had hoped to die with his big brother without knowing the plans he had for him. When he had awakened in Madara's lair, alive and his wounds dressed, he would probably have felt relieved to have survived, but he had felt only a great emptiness deep inside him. Madara could do what he wanted with him, nothing mattered now that Itachi was dead. The young man did not understand how he could survive the fight against his big brother, but after Madara told him the truth about the Uchiha clan and what really happened that night, he had understood why he was still alive. To avenge his brother who had given his life for him from the village of Konoha who had destroyed it. Sasuke was still alive because he had a new goal to accomplish.

But his meeting with Itachi in the woods and then in the cave where Kabuto had been fighting side by side made Sasuke understand how much his big brother had missed him. When he had left him for the second time, Sasuke would have wanted Itachi to take him with him, he wanted to grab his brother and never let him go. But Itachi had chosen to die, and Sasuke had to respect the wish of his beloved brother. Never would the young Uchiha dare to disrespect him by forcing him to stay against his will. But to be separated from him was a pain that the young man could not overcome. He needed his brother more than anything on this earth. Sasuke needed to know where did Itachi's loyalty to Konoha came from in order to understand his big brother and stay connected to him.

His meeting with the God of Shinobi Senju Hashirama and the other Hokages made him change his mind. He had a third goal now. Make the dream of his brother a reality. To create this world without war where peace would reign at last. But Sasuke wanted more than just fulfilling Itachi's dream. He wanted to be like Itachi. Walk in his footsteps in order to stay for eternity connected to him. Sasuke would become a god as his brother was to him, a god who would maintain peace by concentrating all the hatred of the world on him, as his brother had done for him. A god cold and implacable, without emotion or passion, condemned to eternal loneliness.

But this loneliness was beginning to crush Sasuke. The world was now at peace, war and conflict had been eradicated. The appearances of the Red God became less and less necessary, and therefore more and more rare. And yet the name of the Red God was still on everyone's lips, murmured with as much fear as hatred. No one would venture to forget his existence lest the divine chastisement befall him. Even without his intervention, the mere mention of his name sufficed to calm the overheated and bellicose minds. For some years now, the young man has been tirelessly traveling the earth, idle and lonely. He felt that his increasing uselessness was only separating him every day a little more from the connection he had established with his brother. It was unbearable for him. The young man wanted to be strong, as his big brother had been, but no longer to feel Itachi with him, it was as if he was tearing off part of his heart, part of his soul. Without Itachi by his side, Sasuke was no more than an empty envelope.

~

Sasuke was beginning to wonder what would have happened if he had accepted Naruto's proposal. If he had accepted his help and returned to live with him in Konoha. Would the blond-haired young man really keep all the promises he made to him? Sasuke could have really found a semblance of peace in this village that had taken everything away from him? Would Naruto have given him what Sasuke wanted more than anything, justice for his brother and his clan? Would the village of Konoha have acknowledged his faults and apologized for the crimes it committed? Would Naruto really help change the world as Sasuke wanted?

Naruto had promised him that once in Konoha he would be surrounded by friends, that he would never be alone again, that he would finally be happy and at peace. But Sasuke knew he could never have been completely happy again in Konoha. This village had taken from him far too much. It would have been impossible for him to stay there for more than a few months. Too many painful memories have resurfaced. The massacre of his family, the loss of those who were most dear to him. See all his comrades happy and start their own family when he lost the person he loved most in the world. Without Itachi, he did not feel at home in this village. Itachi was his only home. A home that was no more. He would eventually leave the village to travel around the world and see for himself the changes that he and Naruto would have made. He would have gone where his help would have been needed, he would have looked after the good order of the world, and fought every threat no matter what, a silent guardian of peace just as his brother had been. He might have even traveled with the team Taka if they had agreed to follow him.

Team Taka ... Sasuke often thought of them. They were after all the companions that Sasuke had chosen to accompany him, to track Itachi, then to avenge him. They had all been Orochimaru's test subjects, and they had all agreed to follow him without any conditions or questions. They had fought side by side, they had supported each other and saved each other.

The young man had always wondered why everyone had chosen to accompany him. Because of his versatile nature, Juugo preferred to stay in prison rather than risk harming anyone. For him, only Kimimaro was able to stop him when his violent and destructive nature took over. And Kimimaro was gone. But the young Uchiha had assured him that if he chose to follow him, he would be his prison and would arrest him whenever he lost control. Juugo was initially skeptical, but it was true that the young Uchiha had managed to survive the attack of Juugo. And especially Kimimaro was dead to protect the flight of young Uchiha. He was dead for Sasuke. The latter could perfectly understand what he was resenting. Of all the members of the team Taka, Juugo was probably the one Sasuke felt closest to, both of whom had lost their most cherished person, the person who made up their universe. Juugo was ready to give his life for Sasuke for whom Kimimaro had died, just as Sasuke was ready to give his life on behalf of Itachi who had died for him. So yes, Sasuke could understand what had driven Juugo to follow him.

But the other two ... Suigetsu was one of Orochimaru's oldest guinea pigs, trapped in his glass tube for years before Sasuke released him. His ambition, as he had revealed to the young man, was to gather the swords of the seven Swordsmen of Mist to reform the group and become their leader. And with Sasuke's help, he had already recovered Momochi Zabuza's Kubikiribocho. So why did he persist in wanting to follow him? As for Karin, her intentions were even less clear. She was among the closest subordinates of the Sannin, and her loyalty seemed acquired to him even after his death. After all, she had executed prisoners who had dared to speak about Orochimaru's death, and had even refused to accompany Sasuke on his quest to find Itachi, claiming more important things to do. But after spending time alone with young Uchiha, she had changed her mind. Sasuke had never understood why she had done it. No doubt it did not matter at that time. The important thing was that they had all agreed to assist him in his search.

Then Itachi died from the hands of his little brother, who later learned the truth.

His brother loved him more than anything, and sacrificed everything so that Sasuke could live. The devastated heart of the young man had then been able to find his reason to continue living only in revenge on behalf of his family and especially his beloved brother. Konoha, that damn village that had ordered the death of his family and broken his brother's life, had to pay for the harm it had done. So when he accepted Madara's proposal to join Akatsuki, all members of the team Hebi - renamed Team Taka - had followed him. They had fought side by side and faced Hachibi's Jinchûriki, a fight for which everyone was ready to give his life for others. Juugo had given much of his vital energy to save Sasuke's life, while Suigetsu was putting his life in danger to allow them to flee. As for Sasuke, he tamed that day Amaterasu to save the life of Karin, who otherwise would have been devoured by the black flames. That day, they had fought like a real team, which had reminded Sasuke of the time spent in team 7. He then realized that he had developed feelings for each member of his team. These were no longer just tools to help him achieve his goal, they had become important to the young Uchiha.

It's dangerous. Sasuke was now an Akatsuki-related criminal, whose sole purpose was to take revenge on Konoha. He had to stay focused on this single goal and not be distracted by his feelings for his team. Only counted his revenge. That is why he left Juugo and Suigetsu in the hands of the samurai in the land of the Iron so as to be able to make Danzo pay the crimes for which he was responsible. That's why he had not hesitated to pierce Karin with his lightning, because he could not let Danzo use his feelings for the young woman to escape. Danzo had to face his just punishment and perish by his hand.

And yet all three had forgiven him. Sasuke was very surprised to see Juugo and Suigetsu appear in the cavern after his fight against Kabuto and his farewell to his brother. He would never have thought of seeing them again after they were arrested during the Five Kage Summit. And they came looking for him despite the fact that he abandoned them, even bringing him the precious parchment found in one of Sannin's hiding places. Karin had accepted his apology after his interview with the former Hokages. And all three - along with Orochimaru - had accompanied him to the battlefield, had faced all the dangers to rescue him when he was wounded by Madara - the real Madara. They had followed him to the end without asking any questions or raising any objection.

And Sasuke, to realize his plan, had abandoned them a second time. But he had no choice. Sasuke was to die so that an absolute god would be reborn, bearing on his shoulders all the hatred of the world. A cruel god who imprints his merciless justice on the world, so that this one can experience universal peace. A god living in darkness, condemned to eternal loneliness for the good of humanity.

And yet even after all these years, Sasuke could not help but rethink his old comrades. Juugo, always surrounded by birds and other animals of the forest. It was to him that Sasuke owed his meeting with the superb hawk he had invoked during his fight against Danzo, and again during the Fourth Great Shinobi War. It was thanks to him that Sasuke was able to form a deep friendship with this animal, nowadays his only faithful companion. He thought of the constant quarrels between Suigetsu and Karin, who had punctuated each trip of the little troop. He thought of the discussions at the fireside, the thousand and one villages they had crossed, the complicity that united them. Karin's little chatter, Suigetsu's incessant questions, Juugo's melancholy silences.

A slight smile appeared on Sasuke's lips at the mention of these memories. Was friendship so important? In the midst of friends, could he have borne a little more the absence of his beloved brother? Rethinking Itachi hurts so badly, so much so that Sasuke could feel his heart shatter by simply mentioning his name. Sasuke was beginning to doubt. Had he made the right decision? No, Sasuke should not let go of such thoughts. His personal happiness had no importance, only the dream of Itachi. Realizing this dream was the only way for the young Uchiha to stay close to his brother, to continue to make him live in him. But was there really no other way? Sasuke began to rethink Naruto's words as they clashed in the Valley of the End. Could the blonde haired boy really help him realize his dream?

Sasuke caressed the head of his hawk thoughtfully. Then he got up, and turning to the latter, he said, "Come on. We will see an old friend."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how did you find this chapter? Who can be this old friend?  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  
> Thank you all for your kudos and comments.  
> Thank you so much for reading!  
> See you!

**Author's Note:**

> Do not worry, this story will have several chapters.  
> By the way, the title of this fic is taken from that of Lana del Rey, Dark Paradise, a song that I particularly love.  
> I hope you enjoyed this first chapter.  
> Thank you all for reading!


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